Friday, July 24, 2009

Angels and Barbed Wire

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
Emily Dickinson

...late this afternoon found myself in a graveyard... enclosed...trapped...unable to return from that earthy charnel domain to the fair country of the living...

...of course I knew it would happen, eventually...as it does to everyone...but, like most, I'd hoped there'd be more time...

...as is all too clear, life gives us no guarantees...

...fortunately, the groundskeeper's phone number was on a sign by the gate...right by another one reading Gates Closed 4:30 Weekdays...that was pointed out to me, with a bit of a lecture, before he opened the gate to let me out...

...anyway, I’d known that...but had been too caught up in what I was doing to notice time...biking around the cemetery, taking pictures of angels and barbed wire...


*special thanks to the grounds staff of Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, for making this post possible*
at

23 comments:

  1. UnknownJuly 24, 2009 at 11:48 PM

    For a second there I thought... oh well, thanks God you are OK!
    Nice pictures :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. LeaJuly 24, 2009 at 11:51 PM

    Closes at 4:30? What if someone wanted to stop by after work, you know, like for some kind of anniversary remembrance?

    ReplyDelete
  3. the walking manJuly 25, 2009 at 8:15 AM

    I suppose that in Philadelphia it is necessary to lock the dead in at night but I personally would have thought it more necessary in New Orleans.

    ReplyDelete
  4. TheRiverWandersJuly 25, 2009 at 9:40 AM

    Phew...thought I was going to read something about twisted bike parts and severe road rash! Just think...if you hadn't been able to get in touch with the caretaker, this post could have been about graveyard camping...does that give you any inspiration? :)

    And like Lea said - closes at 4:30? So this is a graveyard with banker's hours?...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Brooks HallJuly 25, 2009 at 11:08 AM

    Wow. The angel in chains, too. I can see how you got lost in there...

    ReplyDelete
  6. JR's ThumbprintsJuly 25, 2009 at 11:47 AM

    If I took pictures of barbed-wire fences, they'd have me fired.

    ReplyDelete
  7. KittyJuly 25, 2009 at 12:38 PM

    i wonder if charnel grounds also have a closing time! thanks for the shot of Em D!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Deborah GodinJuly 25, 2009 at 2:30 PM

    Well, call me Orpheus, but I, too, think 4:30 is too early for such an establishment to be shutting its gates...

    ReplyDelete
  9. LydiaJuly 25, 2009 at 6:27 PM

    It seems unusual for a cemetery to have a closing time. Maybe I've just not paid attention and have assumed they were a 24/7/365 thing, like death.
    Great shots, Jay.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousJuly 25, 2009 at 11:41 PM

    What an early close ... glad you found a way out ok. Love the statues.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ruby IsabellaJuly 26, 2009 at 4:33 AM

    We go for a walk through a graveyard often. There are no angels, barb wire and plenty of places to get out. Only cars can be locked in. Glad to see you got another go at life.

    ReplyDelete
  12. LinneaJuly 26, 2009 at 11:54 AM

    4:30 is way to early to close this place...especially in summer. (I love photographing cemeteries) - you got some great shots of the statues; you just need one of that sign. Luckily his phone number was on it! Thanks for your visits to my blog...

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousJuly 26, 2009 at 12:22 PM

    Glad they let you out!

    ReplyDelete
  14. earthtohollyJuly 26, 2009 at 2:33 PM

    I especially love your first photo there, drjay. A nice angle. The chains and "bloody" face give her supposedly peaceful presence a little eerieness. You know, I really wouldn't have minded if they'd kept ya, 'cept I don't think you had your computer with ya...and that would mean no story if, I mean until, you were released...

    ReplyDelete
  15. RBJuly 26, 2009 at 5:18 PM

    that happened to someone I know in NY. it's almost like a warning...

    ReplyDelete
  16. earthtohollyJuly 26, 2009 at 6:40 PM

    *correction* ...and that would mean no story unless, I mean until, you were released.

    Damn!

    ReplyDelete
  17. DESPERADOJuly 26, 2009 at 11:29 PM

    i was too scared to read till the end of post.
    All's well that ends well!

    ReplyDelete
  18. PatriciaJuly 26, 2009 at 11:45 PM

    Glad to hear that you escaped the clutch of angel of death - for now. No one gets out of here alive. Nice photos!

    Ooh..my captcha letters are "hersing" like as in hearse?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Mariana SofferJuly 27, 2009 at 9:09 PM

    Great quote by dickinson. What where you doing in a cementery? Practicing for the future events?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Susan KozlowskiJuly 27, 2009 at 11:18 PM

    Yes, that is a great post. I love cemetaries too. I photograph them all the time, but would get a little creeped out getting trapped in one.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Nothing ProfoundJuly 27, 2009 at 11:32 PM

    Now your whole life you're going to be wondering what you missed by not sticking around a little longer! Courage, my friend, courage!

    ReplyDelete
  22. human beingJuly 29, 2009 at 4:28 PM

    still life is still... life!

    you are talking about life here in a new way perhaps... and that's beautiful...

    ReplyDelete
  23. BirdAugust 4, 2009 at 1:27 PM

    "A dreaded sunny day
    So I meet you at the cemetery gates
    Keats and Yeats are on your side
    While Wilde is on mine"

    Graveyards are great places - people are dying to get in, and you are fighting to get out?

    You know, a couple of months ago I was in town and suddenly found myself at the graveside of William Blake. It wasn't planned. I had tears welling up in my eyes, it was the strangest thing. I gave him dandelions.

    ReplyDelete